


attempts at trumpeting affection

by locales



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Tower, Gift Giving, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012), Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21681151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/locales/pseuds/locales
Summary: Steve's been getting gifts from a secret admirer.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 123
Collections: Happy Steve Bingo 2019





	attempts at trumpeting affection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [firebrands](https://archiveofourown.org/users/firebrands/gifts).

> Ages ago, Nadine sent me a really sweet ask and I've had this sitting in my drafts since. Finally decided to finish it!
> 
> _A little baby elephant stumbles into your ask box, holding a small letter in his mouth. He hands the note to you, “I love you. You are a wonderful, loved person."_
> 
> For Happy Steve Bingo - Secret Admirer

When Steve hears the soft thump on his door and opens it, he’s met with nothing but air. 

He checks the hallway but can’t find any hastily retreating figures. He’s about to close the door when a blip of bright, baby blue catches his eye on the ground. 

“Hey, Iil’ fella, where’d ‘ya come from?” 

A very handsome plush elephant sits on the lush carpet of his hallway. It's holding a salmon pink envelope. 

And then it blinks. 

While Steve’s trying to process what just happened, it gets up and starts walking towards him. After his initial shock wears off, he starts laughing at the adorable way the tiny robot waddles, as if it’s figuring out how to walk, just as a real elephant calf would.

He crouches down to take the envelope the toy holds out to him and rubs its head for good measure and it lets out a few satisfied rumbles and sits down on its haunches again. 

He picks the tiny thing up and gives it a cuddle as he walks back to the couch, trying to open the envelope. 

“J, any hints for who sent this?” 

“I’m afraid not, Captain. It shall remain a mystery.” Jarvis sounds jaunty, like he always does when talking about the mysterious gifts that Steve’s been getting. As if he’s enjoying the game too much, not quite wanting to give the answer away. They’d been at this for months.

As part of the Avengers, he’s had his fair share of packages and letters, anything from heartfelt letters of gratitude to kindergarten drawings and dubious romantic proposals. Of course, Happy made sure all packages the tower received were scanned and properly sorted to avoid nasty surprises. The Glitter Bomb incident of April Fools’ 2012 may have had something to do with it too.

Personally, he'd been happy receiving the spate of cute but bizarre gifts over the past year, ever since he moved into the tower after the Battle of New York, as the press called it. They weren’t expensive like the stuff Tony had tried to give him in the first few weeks he was here and settling in. He’d turned down expensive watches and suits, embarrassed that anyone would spend so much on him. 

Tony had understood and toned down his offerings to the monthly America-themed cupcakes. He was even nice enough to get him a really nice fondue set for his birthday, which Steve graciously accepted once Tony stopped laughing.

At first, he'd written the gifts off as one of Clint's prank wars but as the months went on and the variety of gifts swung this way and that, he dropped this theory. Perhaps it was Pepper taking pity on him. 

— 

It had all started with a classy-looking box.

Sturdy, dark walnut wood. Real. More real than anything in this new world had appeared to him. 

He opened it, more curious than anything and found it filled with the finest art supplies. 

For a while, Steve didn’t dare to open and use the box of paints, the high quality brushes or break in the pencils. He caressed the creamy texture of the sketchbook’s paper, later reveling in how well it took the firm strokes of his pencils and how beautifully crisp his practice sketches turned out. 

It was amazing how fast he could get back into the habit of drawing again and he started doing black and white observational studies of things around Manhattan. His romps through Brooklyn and the charming old buildings that were still standing also for their day in the sun. To his pleasant surprise, his fingers started reaching for more and more colors as the months wore on. 

He sketched Thor’s easy smile, Bruce’s ornate meals of the most wondrous foods from around the world, Nat’s ballet boots, Clint perched in really high places and of course, Tony’s armor and very often, his smiles. 

When he’d accidentally left them on the dining table once, he’d found them framed and put up around the tower. He saw the artsy sketches of dancers he’d made near Nat’s Pilates corner in the gym. 

He spied his art of Tony on a wall behind his main work station, the next time he’d gone to his workshop to bring him a sandwich and talk about some cold cases that had Fury had lobbed off on him. He’d grown to trust both Tony’s counsel and candor. 

— 

Next was the plastic coconut shell that had arrived bearing Japanese stamps and postal marks. 

“Jarvis, who sent this?” 

“I believe it’s an auction item, Captain. Won by someone and directed to you. The sender wishes to remain anonymous.” 

“I see… Send them a “Thank You” note, please?”

“Done, Captain.” 

“Thanks, J,” Steve started to unwrap the package. 

Which had held a t-shirt with miniature Avengers printed on it. Upon some googling though, Steve was taken aback to learn it was an out of stock Uniqlo design from Japan. 

The Hawk had connections in Japan and he'd introduced him to a few of his fellow associates. 

When Steve had worn the shirt, which of course was a nice smedium and stepped out into the common area late one morning, Clint had met him with a wolf-whistle.

“You should get me one, Steven,” Thor threw one massive arm around his shoulder as he started putting the eggs and flour out on the kitchen island for pancakes. 

Tony had just stepped out of their common elevator, taken one look at Steve and done a 180 out to the elevator, muttering something about synthetic fiber, with an apologetic Bruce in tow. 

Steve shrugged it off, though a bit hurt, and made sure a few extra pancakes landed on Clint’s plate, which he polished off in minutes before ambling around for more, like a large hungry bird. 

— 

Then it had been a collection of art books and DVDs. He now switched his secret admirer to Bruce, who was always recommending him things to step out of his usual history, military strategy and science fiction bubbles. 

Steve had had his fair share of notes, confessions and packages sent to him over the years: Both when he was in the USO, much to the amusement of his fellow performers and then during his tenure with the Howling Commandos, where he took the voracious ribbing from the Howlies and Agent Carter’s singularly annoyed eyebrow raise with as much grace as he could. 

It sort of reminded him of a home he was never getting back, that here too, there were people who thought about him and he felt the ache in his heart ease up, just a little. 

He started with a movie called Becket, simply because the actor on the cover reminded him of a certain someone with a goatee. 

— 

When he reaches his couch and starts nudging the envelope open, he feels the elephant wriggle and realizes that it may want to walk around. He sets the tiny bot on the floor and it continues its meandering, exploring and poking at different table corners and patterns in the carpet. 

He opens the letter and finds a small, stiff card that says “I love you. You are a wonderful, loved person.” 

All the clues, however scarce, kind of add up to one person in the tower and the bot seals the deal. He shakes his head fondly, recalling all the gifts he’s used over the past months and carefully put away. 

“J,” he says, grinning and looking up. “Please call Tony.”

Steve can hear the mirth in his voice as he replies, “Certainly, Captain. With pleasure.”

“So, Tony. I got your elephant.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
